The Martlet

If Crayola had a name for the liquid that comes out of some energy drink cans, it would be radioactive yellow.

They don’t necessarily look (or smell) appealing, but with promises to stimulate body and mind and sexy names like Rockstar, Rush, or Beaver Buzz (a proudly Canadian concoction), who can resist? Energy drinks become the perfect solution for students with hectic schedules — but scientists are concerned that this shot of energy comes at a price. 

The small print on the back of energy drinks read like a prescription: do not consume more than 500 mL per day, as needed. Do not consume if you are a child, breast feeding, pregnant, or caffeine sensitive. Do not mix with alcohol.

At parties and bars the drink is available in several alcoholic concotions, including Jager-bombs, where a shot of Jager is dropped into a partially-filled glass of Red Bull (or another energy drink) and consumed in one fell swoop. At gyms and sporting events energy drinks are sold alongside water and Powerade.

For late-night study sessions the drinks are available at Finnerty’s and other coffee shops. Yet, while the popularity of energy drinks continues to grow, so does the concern.

“One of the biggest concerns is that we just don’t know enough about the effect of the combination of ingredients in energy drinks,” explained naturopathic doctor Cathy Wong on About.com.

A 355 mL can of Red Bull, for example, contains 113.6 mg of caffeine, 1,420 mg of taurine and 852 mg of glucuronolactone.

Several countries have opted to ban the sale of various energy drinks. But since Red Bull was introduced in the U.S. in 1997, energy drink consumption has been on the rise. The drinks are predominantly aimed at 18 to 30-year-olds, and have infiltrated all styles of life. Only in 2008 did France end it’s 12-year ban of Red Bull. Until then, France had only permitted the sale of a taurine-free version of the product.

Though rumors circulated that taurine was derived from bull testicles, it was actually found in the bile of ox. The taurine used in energy drinks today, however, is synthetically made.

Health Canada warns that energy drinks should never be mixed with alcohol or consumed while exercising.

“People drink them to keep up their energy during periods of intense physical activity or drink them after exercise to quench their thirst,” reads the Health Canada website. “But rather than re-hydrating their bodies, these drinks may actually lead to dehydration.” 

Dehydration puts stress on the heart. There have been several reports of individuals in Canada who have suffered from electrolyte disturbances, nausea, vomiting and heart irregularities after mixing energy drinks with alcohol or drinking more than the recommended amount.

Ross Cooney of Ireland died during a basketball game in 2001 after consuming four cans of Red Bull. It was later ruled that he died from Sudden Adult Death Syndrome. While several deaths, such as Cooney’s, have left the public questioning the safety of energy drinks, a concrete link has yet to be made.

For those who are curious about how those bottled energy-boosting buddies affect a body, energyfiend.com provides a quick quiz to find out just how many energy drinks you need to guzzle before they kill you (apparently 61.85 back-to-back cans of Rockstar would leave me six feet under).

The website disclaimer is quick to point out that the quiz is to be used “for entertainment purposes only,” and goes on to say: “If you actually try this and end up dying after only 140 energy drinks instead of 143, it’s not our fault.”